Mango-Chile Rolls with Honey-Ginger Sauce

Directions

1Prep your bamboo sushi roller first. This roll is an inside-out roll, meaning the rice is on the outside and the nori in rolled inside. Roll out 3 feet of plastic wrap and place the roller on one end. Wrap the plastic around your bamboo roller, flattening out the plastic so the roller will still be able to roll, and there isn’t air inside the plastic. Once the bamboo roller is wrapped, repeat the process, but this time, turn the roller 90 degrees. Punch the plastic with a toothpick to release any air and flatten out to press any air pockets out of the plastic. This keeps the rice from sticking to the roller.

2Finely chop the fresh ginger and garlic. In a medium sauté pan, cook Samurai Sauce, honey, the tablespoon of rice wine, ginger and garlic on low for at least 10 minutes, letting it simmer and cook down a bit to open up the flavors in the ginger and garlic. When finished, set aside to cool.

3While the sauce is cooling, chop the carrot, daikon, bell pepper and one of the jalapeños into matchsticks and set aside. Make sure to remove the seeds and ribs from the chile. Peel and slice the mango and avocado, then slice into ¼-inch wide pieces that are as thin as possible.

4Prepare the cooked rice by placing it into a medium-sized mixing bowl, preferably glass or plastic. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the extra rice wine and all the coconut milk over the top and mix in. This keeps the rice from drying out and becoming too sticky to manipulate.

5Once you have all your parts ready to go, place the nori shiny side down onto the wrapped sushi roller. Dip fingertips into warm water, then begin spreading the rice evenly over the nori. You’ll want to leave about an inch of space on the edge farthest from you. Do this quickly as to avoid too much moisture on the nori sheet.

6Once you’ve spread the rice evenly into a square shape, pat down lightly to spread as thin as possible. Quickly flip over the rice and nori so rice is underneath the nori and next to the plastic wrap.

7Begin to layer in the veggies, lining up the veggies horizontally. This means you’ll have a line of carrot sticks, a line of daikon, a line of jalapeño, etc. Layer a line of mango and avocado across your veggies horizontally. Drizzle some of your cooled sauce over the veggies.

8Place your thumbs on the back of the roller that is nearest to you and begin rolling forward, keeping the mat tight.

9Shape the roll by applying even pressure horizontally, using your fingers to tuck in the edge of the roll. Maintain even pressure and continue to roll forward to complete your roll.

10Once you get to the edge, lightly wet the extra nori that you left at the end of the sheet with a damp fingertip and tuck into the bottom of your roll.

11Slide your roller out and place your roll on a clean, dry cutting board. The nori needs to set and adhere to the edge on the underside of the roll for at least a minute.

12Dampen the edge of a sharp knife and cut into six even pieces, letting the veggies remain sticking out from the ends.

13Serve on a small plate with a drizzle of your Honey-Ginger Samurai Sauce and fresh jalapeño garnish.